US probably 3 or 4 weeks away from knowing about any China deal

President Donald Trump listens to a question as he meets with former hostage Danny Burch, an oil engineer who was taken hostage in Yemen in September 2017, in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, March 6, 2019.

President Donald Trump said Thursday the U.S. will probably know in the next three or four weeks about a possible trade deal with China.

“We’ll have news on China. Probably one way or the other, we’re going to know over the next three to four weeks,” Trump said during a St. Patrick’s Day reception from the White House’s East Room.

The president remarked that China has been “very responsible and very reasonable.”

The world’s two largest economies have been embroiled in a trade war the past year, hitting each other with retaliatory tariffs. There have been signs of progress to end the trade dispute, but protection for intellectual property and other structural factors in the Chinese market remain sticking points between Beijing and Washington.

“If that one gets done, it will be something that people will be talking about for a long time,” Trump said.

Last month, the Trump administration postponed imposing an additional round of tariffs on Chinese goods. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said earlier this month the U.S. and China were “on the cusp” of a possible deal.